Fired up by the soaring success of Coinbase, Ripple Labs Inc, the establishment behind the fifth most valuable cryptocurrency – XRP, has disclosed plans to issue an Initial Public Offering after it is done with its court case.
The embattled altcoin authors which were accused by the US Security Exchange Commission, of amassing over $1.3billion through illegal and undocumented XRP sales, will be looking to officially register its listing on the New York Stock Exchange over the next 12 months.
Ripple’s listing intentions were disclosed by Yoshitaka Kitao, the company’s largest investor who explained that all stakeholders within the board, including the CEO, Brad Garlignhouse, have reached a consensus on the issue and are gearing up for the phase after all the legal setbacks are over.
Is There Any Rippling Gain?
Ripple seeks to outdo Coinbase by setting a strong record. A successful listing would see a drastic value up-shot to XRP and its already vibrant $60 billion market valuation, which currently pegs the digital currency’s price at $1.64.
Already, experts believe this could spur a wave of public listings in the cryptocurrency ecosystem, except for Binance, whose co-founder, Changpeng Zhao, revealed that there is no such plan in place for the biggest cryptocurrency exchange platform as he believes it is already self-sufficient financially.
A Dark Rippling Legal Cloud
At the heart of Ripple – US SEC legal skirmishes is the debate over whether XRP is an asset or a security. If eventually termed security, the company will have to be subjected to SEC laws and could become roped in for an issuance violation at the end of the case.
Garlinghouse has repeatedly expressed his frustration over the US lack of clarity and definition of cryptocurrency activities in the market. He believes the system is slow, reactionary, and set up to frustrate the innovative progress around crypto.
The lawsuit which is the first of its kind is closely monitored by all stakeholders within the crypto ecosystem seeing that its outcome would set a precedent for future activities of all players going forward.
Rough, Rugged, and Ripple
Despite the company’s legal challenges, XRP’s performance in the market has remained largely unscathed. XRP – though was edged off its fourth position by Dogecoin (DOGE) – continues to grow in value with over a 12% increase in the last 24 hours.
It has recently gone on to appoint an ex-SEC member as one of its board of directors. Nevertheless, there’s no telling that it badly needs an IPO for two reasons: One for the money and two for restoring badly dented public confidence.
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